Nigeria: waiting for a rebirth

The ruling PDP, and especially President Jonathan and the clueless and corrupt cabal around him, thought we are all either fools or slaves, that all they have to do is the barest minimal while they wine, dine and corruptly accumulate at our expense, and then bribe or manipulate their way back to power at the […]

The ruling PDP, and especially President Jonathan and the clueless and corrupt cabal around him, thought we are all either fools or slaves, that all they have to do is the barest minimal while they wine, dine and corruptly accumulate at our expense, and then bribe or manipulate their way back to power at the next elections. Little did they realise that political fortunes are terribly difficult to predict, not least because the subjects are living, breathing thinking human beings; citizens not some inanimate physical objects. When the pressure gets unbearable they can, and often do, change their minds and their leaders. And this coming Saturday will most likely teach them a lesson, whatever the outcome.
Most honest and independent observers predict that we are poised to take back our nation. And this can only be a welcome development, having been abused, battered and bruised for too long. All we expected was for the government to put us on the right trajectory. We wanted the vast resources accruing from oil and gas to be put to good use; schools, hospitals, water, houses and infrastructure. They quadrupled the contract costs, stole more than half and gave us shoddy products and lousy services. They insisted that stealing was not corruption, and in some way even raised theft to a religion. They even manipulated the laws so as to get away with grand theft, and gave themselves and their cronies “presidential pardon” if convicted.
We complained about power to light our homes and offices, and run industrial machinery, but all we got were glossy projections and fake progress reports- and higher bills. They spun tales of millions of new jobs yet our kids die seeking the few hundred on offer.
The really sad thing is that they could have gotten away with all these but for their inability, insincerity and ineptitude in handling a very basic demand of all citizens, that of providing peace and security. We pledge allegiance to a state and pay our taxes. In return we expect it to provide peace and security so that we can go about our lawful business. Which brings us back to the reasons the Boko Haram insurgency persisted, for so long and at such a heavy cost; incompetence, insincerity and ineptitude. Some say Jonathan did not take his job seriously, preferring a hedonistic life of ease and indulgence. Others sat he was a victim of a corrupt bunch of advisers busy stealing most of the money voted for security. Yet others say he did not give a damn because he was convinced it was only “dos people who no like me, na dem dey kill demselves”, as confirmed by many of his supporters. Whatever the excuse, by his acts of commission or omission, he remains culpable.
All this talk of weapons not being available “off-the-shelf” and needing time to be ordered, manufactured and then delivered is all arrant nonsense. You don’t need six years to procure weapons to fight Boko Haram. Weapons have now been ordered, and have arrived within a year and because of approaching elections he sat up, in the last couple of weeks, and ordered his troops to do some real fighting. So, as we go to the polls we must consider whether we will once again vote for such a Commander-in-chief who would deny that there are problems, blame a section of his country for his own failures, only to turn around and try to do something tangible just to get another chance to rule.
Personally, I do not need any Emir, Oba, Obi or Chief, nor any Imam or Pastor, not to talk of television or radio jingles, to tell me how to vote. When I go to vote on Saturday I shall be thinking of my children and grand-children; of all those others killed, maimed, orphaned, widowed or kidnapped by Boko Haram; of those left without jobs and hopes. I shall ask myself whether I can, in all honesty, expect anything better from another four years of this bunch.
Should I fear the alternatives? Frankly, I see no reason to, and in fact I fear more a rapacious and vengeful PDP after coming back to power through massive bribery. Does the APC or the other opposition parties have all the answers? I don’t think so, but at least we get a chance to try something different. Indeed, that we are going through a campaign in which some parties are raising serious issues, in which religion and ethnicity are being pushed to the back-burner, where an Amaechi, an Okorocha and a Fashola are coming together in a vigorous, vibrant and patriotic alliance with the Fayemis, the El-Rufa’is, the Kwankwasos, the Shettimas and Nda-Isaiahs, to support a Fulani Muslim General and a Yoruba Christian Professor, says a lot about how far we have already advanced. We are well beyond the expectations of all those predicting Nigeria will break up come 2015. It will not.
We should all go out to cast our votes without fear or apprehension. It is our right given to us by our Constitution, that document that spells out how we agree to live together and how power is won and lost. All those talking rubbish about interim governments, “show of force” or knowing “who they will not hand-over to” are just intimidating you. It is not for them to decide. Those who came to power by Constitutional means cannot pretend to be above its provisions. Frankly, we are tired and we continue to pray for peaceful change  But as Rev. Father Mbaka said, those seeking to subvert this desire of ours to chose who would lead us, are be fighting the Almighty Himself. Fear no one, nor be intimidated. Cast your vote, and hang around to ensure that the results announced reflect how people truly voted at your unit. Ignore all rumours of evil plans for, as Allah says in the Qur’an (8:30), “They plan, Allah plans…and Allah is the best of planners.”
If we succeed in changing a sitting Federal Government in a free, fair and credible election we would have made history and sent a message to non-performing politicians that they too could be change, and that they are there only to serve. If the opposite happens, and god forbid, we shall still be around to continue the struggle. The critical minimum is a free, fair and credible contest. That we must insist on.